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South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka didn’t get off to a start they would’ve hoped for as they lost the first One-Day International match by a narrow margin of 14 runs. With Sri Lanka taking a 1-0 lead in the series, the two teams will go head to head in the second ODI on Saturday.
Sri Lanka цуку outstanding with the bat in the first match as they went on to post 300 runs on the board against a quality bowling attack of South Africa. Avishka Fernando was sublime in his century, playing some delightful strokes on the way. The rest of the batting unit played a good support act. The bowling unit, while it wasnt penetrating, did a good job to keep the scoring rate down and eventually choke SA batters.
The Proteas have some issues, especially with the bowling unit that lost them the match. Conceding 300 against that SL batting unit just wasn’t a good performance. Both their key pacers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje were expensive.
In the batting department, the opening duo of Janneman Malan and Aiden Markram looked good, especially Markram – smashing 96 off 90. Rassie van der Dussen was excellent as well, with his half century. They will need more out of the rest of their batters.
The second ODI is extremely crucial regarding the ICC CWC Super League. South Africa currently sit at the 11th spot with 24 points and can climb to 8th place if they win.
Sri Lanka are in 8th place with 32 points, and they can climb to 6th position on the table if they win the game.
Key Players
It seems like Aiden Markram finally realises his full potential, becoming more reliable. Markram has very good numbers in List A cricket, scoring 3122 runs at an average of 43.97 and striking at 98.08. So far in his ODI career, he has 820 runs averaging 29.28 at a strike rate of 87.60. Aiden Markram looked in glorious touch in the last game, where he scored 96 off 90 balls.
Rassie van der Dussen is one of the best batters in the South African circuit and has played all over the world before getting an opportunity for SA. With so much experience, RVD didn’t take long to stamp his authority on the international stage. The 32-year-old old batter has translated his excellent List A record to ODI cricket. Rassie has scored 1028 runs in 21 innings for SA at an outstanding average of 73.42 while striking at 86.24, including career-best 123* and nine fifties. SA were favourites to win as long as RVD was at the crease in his run-a-ball 59 in the last game.
Avishka Fernando has been hailed as one of the most promising youngsters in Sri Lanka cricket. Blessed with a blend of traditional stroke play and power, Fernando has piled up runs in the domestic circuit. He has scored 2365 runs in List A cricket, averaging over 45 while striking at 95.86.
He has emulated that success in international 50-over cricket, scoring 946 runs in 24 innings at an average of nearly 40. Avishka has three hundreds and five fifties to his name, including his magnificent 118 off 115 in the first match of this series.
Wanindu Hasaranga has reached new heights of success in recent times with his consistent performances for Sri Lanka and has earned worldwide recognition. In his ODI career so far, Hasaranga has taken 26 wickets with his leg-break bowling at an economy of 5.01, with the best of 3/15. He can be a more than handy batter in the middle overs and he has already shown his potential, scoring 537 runs at 25.57 while striking at over 100, including three half centuries.
Prediction
Talking about the H2H historical record of Sri Lanka and South Africa, the Saffers lead the rivalry with 44 wins out of 78 matches while the Lankans have 32 victories to their name.
There’s no doubt that even without Quinton de Kock and David Miller, South Africa are a slightly stronger side than the hosts. However, their bowling attack needs to get their act together. Batting has looked impressive, and so has the spin department.
Sri Lanka can be a vulnerable batting unit if a couple of guys do not score. But they do have a very good spin bowling attack for these conditions. Having said that, expect South Africa to make a strong comeback in the second match to level the series.
